Nursery children take first bus ride to Brixton bus garage

The children's bus

It’s never too soon to experience new things in life and for the children of the Streatham Montessori Nursery in Brixton, last week was one of those times, when Arriva London sent a brand new red Routemaster bus to collect them from school, and bring them and their teachers to our Brixton garage.

The idea for the trip came from a request by head teacher Fehmida, who had a transport project to deliver to the children and felt that a practical demonstration would be a great way of introducing it. She contacted the garage and we were delighted to make it possible.

Because the children are so young, it was decided that the safest way to carry out the request was to collect them from their nursery, bring them to the garage, keep them on the bus throughout and then return them to the nursery.

Andrew our driver & Steve our Engineer

After collecting them and the short journey, the bus was driven into the garage and two of our staff, Andrew our driver for the trip, and Steve one of our Engineers, spent time explaining their roles and answering questions about their work.

Sunny, the garage deputy operating manager, then organised a drive through the bus wash which was one of the highlights of the visit, followed by the opportunity for the children and the teachers to sit in the driver’s cab and feel what it’s like to be in charge of a big red London bus.

Head teacher Fehmida with one of the children

Head teacher Fehmida said this of the experience: -

“I thank you for giving the most wonderful experience to our children last week. The teachers and myself were also amazed with the incredible work that goes on behind the scenes.

We are very grateful for the time and patience you all had for the children. I would like to personally thank Sunny, Andrew, Steve the engineer, and your manager who came to introduce himself and made it all possible.

Sunny supervises a new driver

The children thoroughly enjoyed the tour and are keen to take up a career driving buses and becoming engineers. The older children had a lot to say to the parents about their trip, and their little red memento buses. The best part for the children, and us, was the bus wash and sitting behind the wheel.”

Sunny said: -

“We thank Streatham Montessori nursery for visiting our Brixton garage, and a special thank you to all the kids as their behaviour was impeccable throughout and all so polite. It’s a privilege to be able to show our working environment to bus passengers of the future, and give them an idea of what is required to deliver a safe reliable service"

If you’re planning a wedding, a special birthday celebration or a fantastic day out with a group of friends, why not treat yourselves this summer and let us help you with your transport and celebrations solutions, using our Heritage Fleet Routemaster buses available for private hire.

Catch the Bus Week is a nationwide campaign - spearheaded by Greener Journeys - aimed at raising awareness of the vast economic, environmental and social benefits of taking the bus as well as encouraging everyone to give bus travel a try.